Clean Slate--Part One

[The Jedi Master]

Hi there! Yes, after a long, long, long absence, the Jedi Master, master of the mission report, is back! I'm starting a new story arc that will span multiple threads. This is the first part, an introduction to the story. I would like feedback if you could spare the time! I want this to be my reintroduction to the writing community here on KSP, and I want it to be my best work!

As a note, this is a brilliant rewrite of the original work by my favorite pal, Duxwing! He will be my editor for these tales. He's a great guy, and a good writer. Some things have been changed from the original: Most importantly, the 'president's daughter' MacGuffin has been removed. I give him full credit for this awesome rewrite.

Enough talking, lets start!

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Once upon a time, the Jedi Space Program was among the best of the best. A space station, bases on the Mun and Minmus, kerbals on Duna, probes over Eve and Tylo, even a kerbal on Laythe. Even more things were planned--a kerbal on Gilly, a base on Moho, a grand tour of the Kerbin system. Everything was going great, and the future looked bright.

Then, Clean Slate happened.

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Kerbal Space Center--Midcember 2nd, 220 AU

The prototype Vulture Mk.1 crash-landed amidst cheers and applause. Jeb burst from its hatch, maniacal grin almost as wide as his triumphant arms. He leapt from the smoldering steel and bounded toward the crowd. Their faces paled. His eyes narrowed, and he stopped. Their gazes rose to a white light that pulsed above.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked, turning toward the mysterious object.

The stock-still crowd it approached, ever-louder thuds booming from its pale surface, ever-brighter flashes screaming from its core, until it loomed over KSC.

The light roared in a great and terrible voice, “STOP!" and the sky appalled. Winds howled beneath its blinding brilliance. The Director slowly slumped, drifting away into unconsciousness. Jeb would not relent.

He put his fists on his hips and stuck out his chin, "Stop?! Stop what?!"

"YOUR FOOLISH MOVEMENT INTO THE STARS."

He spat, letting the spittle glaze over his eye when it soared back in the gale.

"WE ARE THE ERASERS.†From behind the VAB rose the Mk1 Capsule. It shook. Jeb sneered. Then it exploded!

Jeb gritted his teeth and growled into the light, "You just made a mistake that you can’t undo."

The light raced toward him, growing ever larger, “BEGONE!â€Â

It enveloped everything: Jeb, the crowd, KSC, the continent, and all of Kerbin. Then light became small, and faint words rang.

"We have destroyed your rockets and spaceplanes. All hail the Kraken! All hail the Kraken!"

Then light left. Jeb seethed, producing his cell phone to call the President: it would not activate.

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Green House, The Capitol

John F. Kerman glared at his bedroom wall, a nigh-empty bottle of whiskey between his feet shimmering in window light. Once more he saw the flash and thunder, once more felt his heavy phone drop and dully smash upon his foot--once more the man-eating rage boiled within his breast: into the dark, warm air he drunkenly growled,

"The Krussians!†who had for three decades been a peaceful part of the Kerbin Federation, “The Krussians! I know what to do with those Kommies! Nuke ‘em... Nuke ‘em. Nuke ‘em!"

He kicked the bottle and staggered to the door, then turned its squeaking handle and entered the dim hallway, wherein he with bare feet stepped on the brass tabs of a manilla envelope.

"Ow!"

John sighed, stopped, and knelt. Through the haze of liquor he read its red label: WVK to JFK, eyes only.

He grabbed the crumpled envelope and re-entered his bedroom, a smile cracking across his face. “Good ol’ Wernie, bet he’s already got a nifty MIRV ready to glass those sons of†He carefully opened it and therefrom slid three large, glossy photographs and a once-neat letter from Wernher Von Kerman:

"Upon the monolith near the KSC are carvings that long have remained indecipherable (see Exhibit A)"

John hastily thumbed through the photographs, finding the menacing tower near the bottom of the ill-organized stack, "A recent excavation around the pyramids has revealed them to be a new language containing--"

John shook his head and skipped down the page, “I don’t care about the stupid monolith. The Krussians are here!â€Â

"... a secret society calling themselves the Erasers claim to work for the Kraken, believing that space is its domain to rule and theirs to defend from outsiders.â€Â

John closed his eyes and shook his head. Now is not the time for wild conspiracy theories. Come on, Wernie, work with me. His eyes flashed open to scan the rest.

“Our monolith contains the first line of their prophecy: ‘We will cripple this world, and even the memorial cannot stop us.’â€Â

John whined and chuckled, puting his palm on his face, Good help is so hard to find.

He ran back into the bright, palely painted hallway of paintings and plaques, shouting, “Get me the nuclear Kootball!â€Â

He thundered into the delicate foyer and grabbed a secret service agent, “The Krussians! The Krussians! The Krussians KSC’ed the nukes,†John blinked, eyes glancing about the couches and chairs, “err, the KSC nuked the Krussians--no!†He licked his liquor-stained lips and slowly spoke, “The Krussians--â€Â

“Calm down, Mr. President,†the tall Kerbal whispered, “You’re drunk.â€Â

John groaned and spun about, carpet flashing before his eyes, “I swear to drunk I’m not Kod!â€Â. He slipped and fell with a thud, barely conscious.

The secret service agent sighed, “John, I’m your body-guard, not your mother: get up. It ain’t the Krussians.â€Â

John moaned from the floor.

“A bunch of psycho cultists are after the Armstrong memorial.†A smirk of sassy satisfaction spread across the agent’s face, “The brass and your wife wanted to see you, but you was already so drunk that you sent ‘em away. I stayed against ‘orders’ lest you do something even dumber than kick that whiskey bottle.â€Â

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I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please, give feedback and help me make this the best it can be! Thanks for reading!

Edited December 4, 2013 by The Jedi Master

[Tw1]

Oh dear. These Erasers seem like trouble.

[The Jedi Master]

Oh dear. These Erasers seem like trouble.

Indeed they are. I will give one hint: Ever wonder who put all this strange stuff everywhere?

[The Jedi Master]

KSC--Midcember 3rd, 220 AU

Bill Kerman sat in the cockpit, eyes glued to the instruments. Since he was in a cockpit designed for landers, he couldn't rely on visual to orient himself. it was great for landings, not so great for takeoffs.

After the EMP blast (no one knew what else to call it), things had gotten pretty hectic at KSC. Luckily, some of the parts had been placed underground in case of just such an occasion. The Jedi Space Program was prepared that way. The bad news was that no complete rockets had survived, so they had to create a new rocket from scratch. The Neil Mk.1 was the result.

No one knew if the Neil Mk.1 (for this mission christened the Kairi 1) would even get off the ground, let alone land a rover on the Mun. But it had to be tried. Bill knew that, one way or another, this was probably a one-way mission, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Three... two... one... liftoff! We have liftoff of the Kairi 1 mission to find a legend!"

Bill was pressed against the chair as the G-Forces pushed on him. He was going to the Mun.

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The ascent was pretty scary. For a few minutes, no one knew if the ship would make orbit. The thing had no parachute, so a suborbital trajectory would have been disastrous. Thankfully, it was able to just barely pull an orbit. after a few orbital corrections (which drained the transfer stage, but that didn't turn out to be a problem), the ship headed for the Mun.

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Bill pushed the ship to full throttle. He was coming in hot; if he didn't slow down, he would be one splatted kerbal. The JSP could not afford a disaster--if he died here today, all would be lost.

As the ship slowed down to a reasonable descent speed, Bill lurched forward, floated out of his seat for a moment in freefall, then sat back down. He sighed in relief, then brought the ship down nice and slow.

"One thousand meters... five hundred meters.... one hundred meters... fifty meters... ten meters... touchdown! The Kairi 1 has landed!"

"Uh, Bill, you seem to be stuck on that fuel tank..."

"Don't worry, I can handle it later. Right now, it's time to step on the surface of the Mun."

"And so, the Jedi Space Program continues undaunted, bravely rising to the challenge."

"Nice speech," Jeb said. "Not quite as good as 'one small step', but good."

"Thanks Jeb."

Bill looked out onto the vast expanse in front of him, ready to spend a very long time here...

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Continued in the mission report 'The Diary of Bill Kerman'...

I hope you enjoyed this short introduction to the new series. Again, feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading!

[wasmic]

This is one of the good ones. Good job.

[The Jedi Master]

This is one of the good ones. Good job.

Thanks man.

[The Jedi Master]

I have added a MAJOR rewrite by the best writer I know, Duxwing! Be sure to read it, as a major plot point has been changed.